


the flowers will still grow

by windwhisper



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW Comics), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:40:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23137837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windwhisper/pseuds/windwhisper
Summary: Silver struggles to understand where he belongs, until he doesn't.
Relationships: Blaze the Cat & Silver the Hedgehog, Cream the Rabbit & Silver the Hedgehog
Comments: 10
Kudos: 58





	the flowers will still grow

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired in part by Cream's map in the IDW comics. I saw 'Mr. Silver's Garden' and got emotional.

Silver is tired. That's what he's thinking about, as the future fades into the past for what feels like the hundredth time. It's a constant battle, for him, because every time the battle ends he tries to go home, and every time a new disaster greets him.

He's tired of it. He doesn't want to just be the alarm bell of history, or some vague approximation thereof. He just wants the story to be over.

But it keeps on going. And slowly, like pieces of a puzzle carefully put together, he falls apart. A comparison that doesn't quite add up, but that fits him too, really.

The sun rises, and the world is in danger. The sun sets, and the future isn't yet saved.

That's just his lot in life, he thinks. It doesn't grow on him, exactly, but the places and the people do.

He still hates that he can't go home, as much as he's never really liked his future. He hates that he's so lonely whenever he's not here.

The future is lonely. It's always been that way, but it seems to sting more now. He's never had friends, at least not that he can remember, always having been the odd one out. Now that he knows what it's like to be part of something, it's harder every time he leaves.

He takes to Blaze, who feels similarly burdened by her own responsibilities, who feels familiar in a way he can't quite place. Perhaps they've met before, he muses, in some other timeline. In some other life.

(If they did, then he hopes that they're happier there than they are here, but he's happier for having known her all the same.)

More surprisingly, though, he takes to Cream. Partly because she's sweet and nearly as cheerful as he tries to be, but mostly because it's her that teaches him about gardening.

His fascination with plants catches her attention, and she offers to show him how to grow his own. So they pick out a place that was abandoned long ago, and they plant flowers in all shapes and colors.

The first time he sees them, flowers in full bloom, something falls into place. He doesn't understand it then, but it settles in the back of his mind. A sense of belonging.

It's not until much later that he understands it. Blaze says something about needing to head home, and tells him that he should go home soon too. He tells her that he'll stay at the garden a while longer, and a thought strikes him like lightning.

_Right here, right now - I'm already home._

He's not sure when this time, this place, became his home, exactly. He's not really sure when its residents became his people.

He is, however, sure of one thing: this is his home, the place where he belongs.

From that day on, he fights not only for the future he comes from, but also for the future he wants to live in. One where he stands side by side with his friends.

The sun rises, and the world is still in danger. The sun sets, and Silver tends his garden.

In a distant future that may yet need saving, the flowers bloom.

**Author's Note:**

> I love Silver, in pretty much every incarnation. This is just one more take on his character, I  
> think, because while I love his optimism I feel like the life he lives must weigh him down  
> in some way. Call it an experiment, and let me know what you think of it.


End file.
